The intergenerational passing on process
enables older community members to communicate customs, thoughts, aspirations,
and behaviors to young people (Harwood, 1998). It is this passing on of knowledge between mature and
immature members of society that perpetuates human development and continuous
renewal within communities. Spindler (1974) speaks about social systems and
community members as connecting pieces for cultural transmission when he
writes, “Belief systems of the culture support linkages, and the educational
institutions and processes (schools, churches, initiation ceremonies, families)
teach children” (p. 4). The social and moral aspects of initiation and puberty
rites help children transition from being passive members to participatory
members of their communities. Thus, social customs that involve youth
initiation rites are customary practices among people from different countries.

Narratives presented through storytelling is an ancient method that has always served to bring
people together and to stimulate creativity, wisdom and compassion. Every
human culture (African, African American, Asian, Greek, Native American, and
others) seems to create stories, sometimes using metaphors and parables, as a
way of explaining and understanding the world. Leslie Silko in her essay, Landscape,
History, and the Pueblo Imagination (1996) writes on the power of
storytelling. The oral narrative or
“story” became a medium in which complex Pueblo knowledge and belief was
maintained. Whatever the event or the subject, the ancient people perceived the
world and themselves within the world as part of an ancient continuous story composed
of innumerable bundles of other stories(p. 887).

Thus, one of the greatest benefits of stories is that they
give people places to feel intimate and means for connecting to the human
experience. When people use story to build global communities, they speak a
universal language that defies space and time and has the ability to unite
human spirits (Atkinson, 1995). Story has incredible healing powers that seep
into the souls of people who need to hear the voices of individuals who live
outside their immediate environments. Robert McAfee Brown writes, “Storytelling
is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world today” (Priebe, 2007, ¶
6). Finding a common thread such as storytelling provides people from diverse
backgrounds with a global platform, which can facilitate the transformation and
sustainability of communities worldwide.

Storytelling has the potential to teach, heal, transform, and
empower as people become more intimate by sharing ourselves through
stories because “A life story is really the story of the soul of a person.
The most powerful life story expresses the struggle of a soul” (Atkinson, 1995,
p. 4). Writing from the soul connects stories to the human experience. This is
true for writer and anthropologist, Zora Neale Hurston (1937/1987), who
discovered voice when she developed her own unique form of storytelling.
Hurston (1987) believed that all things had a time and place. She expressed her
need to be free of unresolved story endings in this quote, “There are years
that ask questions and years that answer” (p. 38).

For some women, life represents a continuation of narratives, past
and present that become endearing traditions handed down from generation to
generation. By sharing their personal stories, women in this multi-media
presentation bring to life the simple importance of narrative learning in
promoting the renewal and continuation of life by-way of intergenerationality.
Silko (1996) believes in the retelling of stories one is both connected to a
continuum by being both an individual and one who is bonded to a much more
complex system of interrelationships. She writes, “You are never the first to
suffer a grave loss or profound humiliation. You are never the first, and you
understand that you will probably not be the last to commit or be victimized by
a repugnant act….”(p. 892).As a result of re-living their experiences through story, these
women continue to function productively with a shared philosophy for passing on
knowledge from generation to generation. Social activities built around
informal gatherings, often provide groups of women (such as the women featured
in this presentation) with the outlets needed to receive and cultivate
knowledge about their culture, social expectations, and what it means to be a
woman (Belenky, Clinchy, Goldberger, and Tarule, 1986).

Atkinson (1995) expands the realm of
storytelling to include community life through spiritual connections when he
writes, “Stories—those that have been told across generations, as well as our
own—inform, inspire, teach, maintain moral codes, record events that become
history…and clarify all aspects of life while healing and transforming” (p. 3).
As younger and older women are given more opportunities to tell their stories
honestly and openly, they learn valuable life skills (Barlett, 2001). Part of
the challenge with getting multi-generations of women talking to each other, is
what Pilcher (2001) argues is a fast-paced society where minimal opportunities
exist for people to share their daily living experiences with each other
intimately. Pilcher claims that contemporary societies do little if anything to
encourage “honest talk” in human interactions; especially with those encounters
involving opposite genders. When intergenerational conversations do take place between
adolescent girls and women, there must be “real talk” (Belenky et al.).
Storytelling and story sharing provide an informal communication mechanism to
help bridge relationships between multi-generations of women. In this way, the
use of narrative links generations of women together by providing a gateway for passing on personal and collective knowledge,
empowerment and sustainability.

Part of this writing is taken from a published paper presented at the Hawaii International Conference on Education, Honolulu, HI 2009. All rights are reserved by Dr. Binta Masani. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this material may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without proper citation of the source or written permission from Dr. Binta Masani.